Tesco clubcard - a good deal (Tesco Clubcard)

Member Name: Littledreamer

Product:	Tesco Clubcard
Date:	01/08/08 (601 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Make money back from your shopping, worth 4 times the amount in "deals", green incentives

Disadvantages: Sometimes things are more expensive than places like Aldi or Lidls

If you shop at Tescos regularly then a Tesco club card is a great little way to save you some money. It doesn't cost anything to join and to start with they give you a temporary paper card which is the same size as the real card (like a credit card size). You use this for a couple of months while they process your application and send you the real one. You also get with your real card, a little key fob one that you can attach to your car keys so you never forget to take your card with you when you go shopping.

Every time you give your card to be scanned when you pay for your shopping you earn 1 point for every £1 spent, and you also receive points if you re use carrier bags, which is a help to the enviornment and a good incentive to get people to do their little bit to be green. Recently our local Tesco was collecting old printer ink cartridges where you could also earn 100 "green" clubcard points. I believe that some of the very large Tesco superstores also have recycling areas outside where you can earn points for recycling plastic bottles and cans. You can also earn 300 points for recycling your old mobile phone. Details of these green incentives can be found on www.tesco.com/greenerliving

Tescos send you a statement every quarter with a voucher containing vouchers with the amount that you have accumulated on your card. You can either spend these against your shopping, or save them up for "clubcard deals". These deals are worth four times the amount, so if you have got £10 on your card, you can get £40 worth of deals.

You also get sent a selection of vouchers to use such as 50p off washing powder, £1 off juices and that sort of thing. These are little extras and don't get taken off your points statement.

There are loads of clubcard deals and some examples are holidays, airmiles, roadside assistance, meals out, weekend breaks, activity days, magazines and lots more. Check out www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/ for the full list. If there is something special that you would like to do, it is a good way of putting some funds towards it.

Often around the stores, Tesco have special promotions on where if you buy a certain product you can get loads of points. Sometimes it can be worth buying the item just for the points. For example if the item is £1 and they are giving away 200 points then by spending £1 you can get £2 back, so you will make £1 or £4 if you are saving up for the deals. It is worth looking around for while you are doing your weekly shop.

As well as using your card in store, you can also use it at the petrol stations and earn points back on your petrol.

The Tesco clubcard is probably not worth having if you don't shop at Tescos very often or don't get your petrol there, but for regular shoppers the points will soon add up. I am saving up for a clubcard deal, just not sure which one yet!

Summary: Great for regular Tesco shoppers